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My co-op buddy and I had been using the same science and would get together from time to time and have science lessons together, then she switched on me from Swimming Creatures to Anatomy. Why? So she could use the Apologia junior journal, but I was already committed having bought the Swimming Creatures lapbook (which is on sale right now, and I do still recommend), and really liking it.
This year I gave my kids the choice of doing the lapbook again or using the Junior journal. I brought one of their lapbooks and we sat on the floor of the local Christian bookstore and compared the two. Thus ensued a long discussion about the pros and cons, here they are as my children decided:
Apologia Junior Journal Review according to my kids
PROS according to my kids
1. coloring pages, this was Superman’s big thing, he loves to color and actually wants more pages to color
2. Places to draw pictures of what we’re learning about.
3. Fun looking experiments.
Apologia Junior Journal Review according to me
PROS according to me
4. Perfect amount of space for young writers. My kids struggle to write on their own, they want me to spell EVERYTHING. I’m working on building their confidence writing on their own and helping afterwards.
5. Copywork for working on handwriting. The copywork is either definitions or Bible verses, and there is an option for print or cursive. Along with space to draw.
6. Additional resources and ideas. Each lesson has about two pages of itty bitty print of extra resources, if you did everything you would easily take a month or more for each lesson. Obviously we’re not going to do it all, but many of these videos are on Netflix or youtube and it’s a fun way to pass an evening.
7. Lesson plans- it does a great job of breaking down how to use the textbook and journal together. I partially based my lesson plans on their layout. Slightly different, but same idea.
8. Additional experiments, you know my kids are all about those experiments. ALL ABOUT. They actually are in the process of creating their own experiments right now.
CONS
1. Since it’s not a download I have to buy one for each kid, but the plus side of that is I don’t have to print it out myself.
Let’s see what others did this week:
Each week I’m spotlighting a few posts that were shared previously. Many posts get linked up later in the week and they don’t always get as many clicks as they deserve, so I’m trying to spotlight a few every week.
Source: books4learning.blogspot.com via Ticia on Pinterest
Books 4 Learning shared about a new picture book series showing animal life cycles. Isn’t that mole picture amazing?
Little Wonder Days has a wonderful experiment that leads to making homemade bread. Anything leading to homemade bread is a good thing in my mind.
Creekside Learning shared her science curriculum for this year. I have to say it looks intriguing.
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Emma has the Day 6 Apologia Science book. She loves it – and the copywork is probably her favorite part!
Really? That is your only con? You must really like them. Mine would want to do the whole thing in one day.
My sister in law bought the Apologia as well (can't remember which one) and her kids, who are notoriously difficult to please, absolutely loved it! She said it also takes the “Mom telling us what to do” factor out of it as well.
I love that you are deciding on curriculum together. This approach is going to pay off big time! I am sure they are going to continue to love science!
I think it's wonderful that you're giving your kids a say in what you're going to study this year. I'm sure it helps keep them interested. I also like that they are learning to think and express what they like and don't like in a mature way. How neat that they're working on designing their own experiments. Thanks for featuring our baking day experiment.
Kelly at Little Wonders' Days
I agree with everyone that it is so cool that you get input from your kids!
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